Cameroon international Joseph Desire Job tells BBC Sport Online about his role in a resurgent Middlesbrough side. Striker Job is glad the move he craved to end his Middlesbrough nightmare did not materialise.
Job vowed not to play for the Riverside club again at the end of last season as his frustration at not playing for the first team became too much.
“The French market was very difficult in the summer and there weren’t any opportunities for me,” Job exclusively told BBC Sport Online.
Things are better for me here and I want to stay here
Joseph Desire Job
“If I had one opportunity I would have gone.”
Job even went on loan to Metz in his search for first-team football but the Metz coach was sacked two weeks after the Cameroon international’s arrival.
He was again watching from the sidelines before coming back to Teesside.
But, in a complete turnaround in fortunes, life could not be much better for Job at present.
He has scored twice in seven Middlesbrough outings this term and says Boro boss Steve McClaren has been the main architect behind his revival.
“Last season was very frustrating season,” recalled Job. “It was very difficult.
“When you don’t play you feel useless. I didn’t like that because I always thought it was unfair.
“Things are better for me here and I want to stay here.
“This season I had chances to play. I did well in the pre-season games and the manager came to me and filled me with confidence.
“He talked to me and told me that he was very happy with me, even though I was still leaving the club at the start of the season.
“He made me very confident and he always talked to me. Even last year he didn’t really want me to move but I felt that if I stayed at the club I would not play.”
The arrival of fellow Cameroon international Geremi, who he rooms with on away trips, has also helped Job.
“I think we help each other,” he said. “I have known him for four years through the national team.
“It made me confident on the field to play with him and I think that it is important that he is here.”
Job added: “When a striker scores goals it makes them confident and that is the way I feel now.
“I’m involved in the team and there is a great atmosphere between the players and the team which is why we are doing well at the moment and why I am enjoying it.
“It is all about the team because, first of all we defend well, then our midfield is very strong and, in turn, that makes it easier for the strikers.”
